Current D1 AD Openings: 18
There have been 285 D1 hires since 2020.
There have been 70 D1 hires since January 2025.
Updated 8/05/26. This page will be updated to reflect ongoing D1 AD changes.
Most Common Immediately Prior Job Titles
- The 3 most common pathways to these D1 athletic director hires have been:
- Deputy AD:
- Since 2020: 105 hires
- 2025-2026: 34 hires
- Sitting AD:
- Since 2020: 78 hires
- 2025-2026: 16 hires
- Senior Associate AD:
- Since 2020: 32 hires
- 2025-2026: 4 hires
- Deputy AD:
- These 3 pathways represented:
- Since 2020: 215 of 285 hires (75%)
- 2025-2026: 54 of 70 hires (76%)
Key Observations
- There have been 75 total internal promotions to the AD chair since 2020 across division one (26%)
- 18 of the 70 hires in 2025-2026 so far were internal promotions (27%)
- 20 sitting ADs have left their position voluntarily to become a Deputy AD since 2020 and 8 so far in 2025-2026
- Sitting ADs leave for other AD positions often, too, with 79 sitting ADs leaving for the same position at other D1 schools since 2020 and 17 so far in 2025-2026
- Out of 285 hires since 2020, only 44 were female (15%) and 16 of those hires were internal promotions (36%)
- Out of 70 hires so far in 2025-2026, only 3 have been females (< 1%)
18 Openings as of August 5, 2026
There are currently 18 projected open AD positions:
- FBS Autonomy: 4
- Miami, Michigan State, Iowa State, Michigan
- FBS Non-Power: 4
- Old Dominion, Air Force, Louisiana, Rice
- FCS: 6
- South Carolina State, Texas Southern, Duquesne, North Carolina A&T, Western Illinois, Incarnate Word
- I-AAA: 4
- CSU Bakersfield, CSU Fullerton, Rider, Radford
D1 Subdivision Analysis
FBS Power (Autonomy)
- 2025–2026 so far: 15 hires
- 14 of the 15 were men
- 6 came from another AD chair
- 6 came from Deputy AD jobs, including 2 internal promotions
- 9 came from other Power schools
- 3 came from another FBS school
- 3 came from outside the industry of college athletics
Other FBS
- 2025-2026 so far: 21 hires
- All have been men
- 6 internal promotions
- 5 were sitting ADs
- 13 were Deputy ADs
- 11 from other FBS schools
- 5 from Power schools
- 3 from FCS schools
- 1 from an I-AAA school
- 2 came from non-school jobs
FCS
- 2025-2026 so far: 21 hires
- 18 of 22 have been men
- 8 internal promotions
- 4 were sitting ADs
- 10 were Deputy ADs
- 2 were former ADs
- 4 were other senior-level administrators and 1 faculty member
- 15 from other FCS schools
- 3 from Power schools
- 1 from other FBS school
- 1 from a conference office
I-AAA
- 2025-2026 so far: 12 hires
- All have been men
- 2 internal promotions
- 2 were sitting ADs and 1 was a former AD
- 5 were Deputy ADs
- 1 was a Senior Associate AD